Guard: Charlie Morgan's spouse eligible for some benefits

DOVER — A New Hampshire National Guard spokesman is refuting reports the spouse of Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan is not eligible for survivor benefits.

By Jim Haddadin

DOVER — A New Hampshire National Guard spokesman is refuting reports the spouse of Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan is not eligible for survivor benefits.

Morgan, a lesbian service member who died Sunday, gained national recognition during the last two years while fighting for marriage equality.

Morgan and her longtime spouse, Karen Morgan, joined a lawsuit in 2011 challenging the “Defense of Marriage Act,” the law that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

In the wake of Morgan's death, OutServe-SLDN — an association of gay and lesbian service members — released a statement claiming that Morgan's spouse, Karen Morgan, is “not entitled to survivor's benefits following ... Morgan's death” because of the federal law.

OutServe-SLDN is the group that filed the lawsuit challenging DOMA two years ago. Communications director Zeke Stokes said Wednesday that Karen Morgan is ineligible to receive a so-called “death gratuity benefit” from the military because federal law does not recognize gay marriages.

OutServe-SLDN Legal Director David McKean repeated that analysis on Friday. He called the military's death gratuity benefit a “pretty substantial financial package,” and said Karen Morgan is not eligible to receive it.

“That's another one of these kind of cash payments that are intended to relieve the financial stress of having the breadwinner of the house pass ... and that's something Karen is also not eligible for,” McKean said.

A spokesman for the New Hampshire National Guard denied that claim Friday. Federal law prohibits same-sex couples from receiving some, but not all, survivor benefits from the military, Major Greg Heilshorn said.

If a service member dies while on active duty, the military pays a death gratuity to any beneficiary chosen by the service member, Heilshorn said. The benefit is not restricted based on marriage, he said.

Lt. Commander Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, confirmed Friday that the military's death gratuity benefit is available to same-sex couples. If a service member dies while on active duty, the death gratuity provides up to $100,000 to any beneficiary designated on the member's “Record of Emergency Data” form, according to information provided by the Department of Defense.

Heilshorn said he is confident a death gratuity benefit has already been paid out by the military to Karen Morgan.

“I am 100 percent sure that Karen Morgan received the death gratuity payment,” he said, adding, “It was delivered by hand, in person, by a member of our organization.”

Heilshorn said Karen Morgan is also eligible to receive military life insurance payments, which are classified as a “member-designated benefit.” That means the life insurance policyholder can choose who receives money after their death.

“With a few exceptions, the coverage (of Charlie Morgan's death in the news), both locally and nationally, has been inaccurate,” Heilshorn said.

When briefed on Heilshorn's stance, McKean said he talked to Karen Morgan on Thursday and was informed that Morgan has not received any form of a death gratuity benefit from the military.

“If the National Guard has, since yesterday, found a way to provide that benefit to Karen, I'd be very excited to learn that, but that's not what — you know, my best information is coming from the person who is receiving these benefits,” McKean said. “She doesn't have them.”

McKean suggested that “death gratuity” is actually a term that can be used to reference two different types of survivor benefits, one of which can only be paid out to a spouse.

“We may be talking about two different things,” he said.

Later in the afternoon, McKean said in an email that the second type of “death gratuity” is outlined in Title 5 of the US Code.

Title 5 of the US Code deals with government employees and civil servants, according to information available from Cornell University Law School. McKean has not replied to a request seeking comment on why the Title 5 “death gratuity” is relevant to Charlie Morgan.

“As I explained on the phone, there is not one death gratuity,” McKean wrote. “The complexities of the survivor benefits offered, especially when they have overlapping names and diverging eligibility requirements, don't make them easy to summarize.”

Heilshorn said he is only aware of a single type of death gratuity benefit for service members.

Putting aside the issue of the military's “death gratuity” benefits, McKean said Karen Morgan is also losing out on other types of survivor benefits paid out to heterosexual spouses.

One such benefit is “dependency and indemnity compensation” (DIC) from the military.

DIC payments are provided on a monthly basis to spouses of servicemembers who die while on active duty, McKean said.

If she were a heterosexual, Karen Morgan would now be eligible for an estimated $1,100 per month in DIC payments, McKean said, adding up to an estimated $400,000 over the course of 30 years.

The other major benefit to which Karen Morgan has been denied access is military health care coverage, McKean said. Heterosexual spouses of servicemembers are eligible for “TriCare,” the military medical and dental health insurance program.

Karen Morgan would be eligible to receive health insurance coverage for three years after her spouse's death if she was married to a heterosexual servicemember, McKean said.

The federal marriage law does not impact the eligibility of the couple's 5-year-old daughter, Casey Elena, for military health insurance, McKean said.

Heilshorn confirmed that federal law does currently prohibit the spouses of gay and lesbian service members from receiving some survivor's benefits, such as continuing health care coverage and a housing allowance.

Charlie Morgan completed more than 16 years of military service. She was last working as an Active Guard Reserve education officer in the New Hampshire National Guard.

Morgan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. She underwent a double mastectomy and several rounds of chemotherapy, which saved her life. She was declared cancer-free by an oncologist in 2010, and was deployed to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait in support of Operation New Dawn the following year.

She returned to the United States in August 2011 and learned soon after that the cancer had returned and spread to her lymph nodes and chest.

It was that same month that Morgan first gained national attention when she appeared in an interview on the television network MSNBC. Morgan identified herself as a lesbian publicly for the first time during the Sept. 20, 2011, interview, which followed the repeal of the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

Charlie and Karen Morgan then joined the lawsuit challenging DOMA in October 2011. The suit was filed by OutServe-SLDN.

In the wake of Morgan's death this week, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, introduced legislation aimed at making “additional benefits” available to all military spouses and families, regardless of sexual orientation.

Shaheen cited the Morgan family as a prime example of inequity in the federal marriage law.

In an announcement released by her office Friday, Shaheen said Karen Morgan “will not be eligible for survivor benefits because of the military's policy on same-sex marriages.”

“The story of Charlie Morgan offers a powerful example of why we need immediate action to end LGBT discrimination in our military,” Shaheen said in a prepared statement. “Charlie served on the front lines for our country, but because of her sexual orientation her family is wrongfully being denied many of the same benefits given to those who stood beside her.”

The “Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013” would require the military to honor any marriage that has been recognized by a state. It would also extend benefits to the families of homosexual service members, such as access to the military health care program and “surviving compensation for the spouse of a deceased service-member,” according to Shaheen's statement.